To Work With The Enemy
by Kirei Baka Kasumi
Summary: The Conclave find Ray's location, making White ask Max for help, and the two have to work against the clock to get to the boy before anyone else.
1. Default Chapter

Hello. This will be my very first Dark Angel fic... Yay!

Rating: PG13, but there will be swearing... I like swearing... Go figure.

Summery: The Conclave find Ray's location, making White ask Max for help, and the two have to work against the clock to get to the boy before anyone else.

Just keep in mind that this is my first Dark Angel fic, and first chapter, so if its bad and short, I'm sorry!

-.- Chapter One -.-

"L-left." M0ax said. She tried to be stronger then the man driving thought she was, but her voice betrayed her. She was freezing.

"Wrap yourself up with the blanket." he said, slowly turning in the snowy traffic. "I dont need you sick 452."

"And for a second Ames, I thought you cared." she coughed. She might not be at her best, but her mouth would never fail her.

Ames White didnt care to awnser, but just kept following her directions.

"Go straight through these blocks. You'll go up a hill, her house is the big one on the end of the street..." Max trailed off, then turned and caughed into her hands again. She turned back to look at the road, currently covered in snow, letting her head rest on the seat belt that went across her chest. White looked at her from the corner of his eye at a red light. Her breathing was slow, but deep. Her arms and legs slightly trembling at her low temperature.

'Damn her pride!' he thought, turning back to the road as she caughed once again. 'She's going to get herself sick! Then what the fuck am I going to do?!'

While White cursed her without knowing, Max thought about how she had gotten into this situation in the first place, with her enemy none the less. In fact, it all started while she was arguing along side Alec with Normal...

**[Flash Back]**

"Hello! What do you and Golden Boy think you're doing Miss?!" Normal called, running up to his two employes.

"We'll go get your stuff." Sketchy said, Original Cidny following him.

"Well?"

"We're using faster, better transportaion to deliver packages faster." Alec said, stepping off his dirt bike.

"This way, we can get around faster. There and back." Max added in, sitting on her Ninja with her arms crossed defencivly.

"I dont care. They're noisy and big, and I dont want you on them!" Normal argued, ignoring Max's and Original Cidny's glares.

"452, 494 and yourself should really listen to your boss." Ames said, walking into Jam Pony from behind them with Otto following.

"Well I want you to drop dead, but we dont always get what we want now do we?" Max retorted, not even turning back to look at him. She revved up up her engine, and turned to Alec. Silently, she told him what to do through had signals, and he got on his bike and rode over to sit infront of the other Jam Pony employees near the lockers. Max swirved her bike around to face her enemy and his follower, and once again revved up her engine.

Otto grabbed his gun from his side pocket and aimed it at her. He had heard all about her, what she was, how she was trained, who trained her, and what she was made to do. Even when he asked White about her on one of his very rare good days, he'd do nothing but curse her and her Eye's Only firend. But one thing about her scared him more then any other transgentic could. You never could tell what she would do next.

Ames, on the other hand, only smirked at the lethal killer infront of him. Every transgentic he had come across seemed to have some sort of weakness, some flaw, and when Otto pulled out his gun, Ames saw a flash a fear cross her eyes.

She didnt like guns.

But at the same time, behind her, he saw Alec flinch.

_His_ weakness was _her_.

"Well?" Ames spoke up. "No big escape tricks?"

Suddenly, Max pulled her feet from the ground as her bike shot out at the two. Ames easily jumped over the bike, thanking his familiar strength. His partner on the other hand underestimated the speed of the Ninja and shot, only to hit nothing but floor and lose his gun.

Max pulled on the breaks of her bike, pulling slightly to stop sideways on the ramp at the door to Jam Pony, Otto's gun in hand.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with guns?" Max said to Otto, taking apart the gun without looking, letting the bullets spill everywhere. "I've been shot twice, and I'm still here. You can try, but I'll just kick your ass in the end."

"Relax, Max." Ames said, spitting out her name like it made him want to slit his own throat. "I'm not here to kill you, for once."

This shocked her, as well as Alec. Ever since they ruined his first plan, it was like he was looking for just them. Then when Max took away Ray, he only seemed to get more determined.

"Bullshit!" Alec spoke up from behind the familiar, not even causing him to turn around.

Ames sighed. Max wasnt saying anything, wasnt even moving to attack again. She just sat there on her bike, waiting for him to say something, to explain. He reached into his coat pocket, silently snickering to himself as she visible tensed. But to everyones surprise, he only pulled out a disk and a card.

No gun.

No taser.

Slowly, he walked up to Max and held out the objects for her to take. She took them, and gave him a questioning glare as she put them into the inside pocket of her jacket.

"Look at the disk." he said simply. "When you do, you can either meet me at the location on the card, or ignore it. Its up to you." with that, he started to walk past her and up to the street, but stopped momentarily.

"How do I know its not a virus, or a trap?" Max asked as Otto shook out of the shock of his bosses actions and ran up past him to thier parked car.

"When you see the information, you'll understand." he stated, not even turning around to look at her. "See you later." and he walked out.

Slowly, Alec and Original Cidny walked up to Max, who still hadnt moved.

"So, that was a black helicopter dude..." OC said, watching as Max pulled out the disk from her pocket.

"One of the worst." she mumbled, looking at the disk in her hand.

"What are you gonna do?" Alec asked. "You cant trust him. It could be a virus. Or worse, a lethal Conclave trap. Trusting Lydecker and Madam Bitch would be safer then trusting Ames White."

"I've trusted Lydecker..." Max said, pain evident in her eyes. "And that cost me Zack... The Zack I knew. While Madam X took a bullet for me. What do I do?"

Alec thought a moment. Once again, Max had cornered him. Either ignore it all like it never happened, or find out whats going on.

"Normal!" Max called behind the X5, snaping him out of thought. "I'm taking the day off!"

Before Normal could say no, and before Alec could try to stop her, the black 650 Kawasaki Ninja was long gone, along with a certain Max Guevara.

**[End Flash Back]**

-.- End Chapter -.-

And thats it. Love it? Hate it? Review, and you'll get more! =)

-Kasumi


	2. Chapter Two

Wow.... I never thought anyone would really read this story. So I'm gonna update. Lucky you. But dont think that I'll be able to do this everyday. I start school on Tuesday, so I might only be able to update a couple weeks (I have other stories too) so yea... Sorry, but I'll update when I can, and try to make the chapters really long!

And I forgot this last chapter! Oops!

I DO NOT OWN DARK ANGEL. THATS WHY I WRITE FANFICTION.

On with the chapter!

-.- Chapter Two -.-

Yup. It all started with that disk.

Max looked out the window of the slow moving car. They were stuck in traffic, once again, and they were still on the main road. They werent anywhere near close to Ray.

But what they were really worried about was where _they_ were... They couldnt tell anything but what they knew by the disk...

**[Flash Back]**

"Hey Logan, you here?" Max called as she walked into the penthouse.

"Hey Max." she a very happy girly voice from the kitchen. And through the door, came Asha's head. "Long time no see. Whats up?"

"Nothing." she said simply, letting her hearing pinpoint on the computer room to see if he was there. But there wasnt any typing nosies.

"What brings ya here... Dont you have work or something?" Asha asked, innocence of a child as she handed Max a cup of coffee.

"Looking for Logan. I have something I was gonna ask him to check out for me... You?"

"I'm in town for a bit, so I thought I'd drop by. When I got here he was just going to the store to pick up a few things, so he gave me the key and said he'd be back in few. So here I am." she took a sip of her coffee. "He should be back in bit though... Wanna talk?"

'About what? How annoying you are?' Max thought, laughing in her mind. "Sure... Why not."

"Cool. Lets go sit down." Asha said, walking into the living room and sitting down on a couch, Max sitting beside her. "So... What do you wanna talk about?"

"How about why Max isnt at work...?" Logan asked, walking up infront of them, clearly confused.

'How the hell did I not hear him?!' Max thought. 'Oh ya... I was silently insulting Asha...'

"Max?" Logan asked, snapping her out of her train of thought.

"Huh? Oh ya! I'm here to ask if you could check this disk out for me..." she said quickly, grabbing the disk from her jacket and handing it to the man. "I strongly suggest you do a virus and tracing check on it..." she trailed off, using small hand signals to signify everything else he should check for.

"No problem." he took the disk, smiling at her, and walked over to his laptop. "So whats on it?"

"I dont know... Thats why I brought it here." she told him.

"MAX!" Alec yelled, busting in through the front door. Everyone stood up and walked over to see him in the door with Original Cidny behind him. "Max you moron! What the hell are you doing!?" Alec yelled, once again.

"Am I missing something?" Logan asked, looking from one X5 to the other.

Original Cidny stepped out of the door and clossed it, slapping Alec on the back side of his head. "My boo got some disk from one of those black helicopter dudes, then ran off here. This idiot," she said, pointing to Alec who was rubbing the back of his head, "tried to stop her but she was gone. Then, we came here, and here she is."

"Black helicopter dudes?" Asha asked, looking totally baffled.

"Which one?" Logan asked Cidny.

"No one. It doesnt matter." Max said quickly. The last thing she needed was Logan freaking out because she ran into Ames White himself and took something he gave her.

"Whats wrong Max? He walked right up to you. Why are you talking so fast?" Alec asked, talking fast himself. If he could see Logan freak out, he'd rather him freak out about not know whats going on, and then freak out about knowing that Max ran into White and niether of them ended up strangling eachother.

"Who?" Logan pressured, looking from OC to Alec, to Max and back again.

"Some dude wit short blonde hair, navy blue suit, had someone following him, and he jumped right over Max and her bike." Cidny said, proud of herself for remembering something like that while she was trying to get Sketchy to stop trying to get his camera out to take pictures.

"AMES WHITE?!" Logan yelled, eyes wide. "You ran into Ames White while you were at work and he gave you that disk?!"

"Yes..." Max said slowly, glaring daggers at both Alec and Cidny.

"The same disk that at this moment my computer is checking?"

"Yes."

There was a small beeping noise from Logan's laptop on the counter, telling everyone within earshot it was done checking the disk and now opening it. Both Max and Logan exchanged glances before dashing off to the compture, only for Logan to get there first, holding out his hand so if she got to close they would touch.

"Max... What is this?" he looked up from the screen asking, face void of emotion. Slowly, he turned the laptop so she could look at it, and as soon as she did, her face went blank and she couldnt look away.

The screens was filled with pictures of her, Ray, and White. There were pictues of Ray as a child, and ones that looked like they were taken before he took the test. But what really freaked her out was that some looked like they could only be a few weeks old. Then there was White. There were pictures of him as a young child, playing in play grounds. Then pictues of his training, what they put him through. Then pictures of him that only looked a few years, to a few weeks as well.

But what was really troubling were her pictures.

They had pictures of her in line with the other X5's of her unit, all standing at attention with Lydecker infront, looking as though he was barking out comands. They had a clear picture of her barcode on the back of her neck, and a head shot of her at five. They had a picture of her flipping a seven year old Zack over her shoulder, and a picture of her kicking Syl's legs out from under her. A picture of her in line between Zack and Jondy with blood splatterd on her face, and a picture of her on her Ninja that looked only a few months old.

"What the..." she mumbled, scroling down the screen.

Lower down, there was writing, even what looked like a profile.

Name: Raymond White

Age: 8

Location: Confidential

-Familiar-

Beside his profile, there was a picture of him just before the test, in a cloak with odd black markings on his face.

Name: Ames White

Age: 30

Location: Seattle

-Familiar-

And once again, there was a picture of Ames beside his profile, but his was newer. The picture its self only looked a few weeks old. But what was odd was that they had made one for her...

Barcode Number: 332960073452

Given Name: Max Guevara

Age: 18-21

Location: Seattle

-X5, Transgenic-

Beside her information, they had a picture of her after she was captured, standing over a soilder she had fought outside, with her foot on his throat.

"How would they have that picture...?" Max thought out loud, everyone hovering around her. Slowly, she scrolled down even farther to see more writing, clearly addressed to her.

_Well 452,_

_Seems like the Conclave have a little infatuation with you. These are just some of the pictures I was able to get in the short time I had before they would find out who was hacking into their system. They have alot. All the way from when you were nothing but a three year old sitting in what looked liked a class room, to as early as yesterday. Amazing, isnt it? They seem to be always watching. Well now they've found my son, and they wont tell me where he is. But you and Cale know. You took him from me to protect him from the Conclave, and now they've found him. I need your help. You have the card with the location and time on it. Its your choice if you help me or not. Choose._

_White_

"Please tell me your not going to help him..." Alec said after reading the message, looking from Logan to Max and back again.

"Dont look at me. Ray and his Aunt moved out of the states weeks ago. I dont know where they are." Logan said.

"I do."

Everyone turned to Max, who was now taking the disk out of the laptop and putting it back into her jacket pocket.

"Thats nice. Now let the bastard save his son on his own." Alec said, crossing his arms triumphantly.

"Cant."

"What?" they four questioned Max as one, each looking more shocked then the other.

"I cant let his creepy little cult get what I worked hard to keep away from them." she turned to the door. "Besides, I'm bored. Whats wrong with kicking a little ass before I go see Ray?"

"Max!" Logan called, just as she was about to open the door. "You cant be serious. You're not going to and help the biggest threat you have right now, are you?"

"I'm not helping the jackass of all jackasses Logan. Relax." she said reassuringly. "I'm just gonna save his son."

Before Logan and Alec could retaliate, she was already out the door and in the elevator.

"Dont worry about her you two." Original Cidny said, patting the two on thier backs. "Shes my girl. She'll be aiight. But in the mean time..." she grabbed Alec's ear and started to twist it. "You have work." she hissed, pulling him out the door. "See ya later Logan." she waved, then turned Alec around so he could say something as they entered the elevator.

"Bye - OW! - Logan - OUCH! - and - HEY! - Asha - OC!!" Alec yelled as the elevator doors closed and Logan waved along side Asha.

"Dont worry about her Logan." Asha said, grabbing one of his hands. "Max's tough, she'll be fine."

"I hope so."

**[End Flash Back]**

-.- End Chapter Two -.-

There you go! That you to all of my reviwers, I love reviews. They make me wanna write more! So that was chapter two, now you know whats on the disk, and next you get to know what happends at the location! Well, in the next chapter. Review Please!

Thanx,

-Kasumi


	3. Chapter Three

Wow guys... thanks for reviewing! heres chapter three!!

**-.- Chapter Three -.-**

"Oh for fucks sake..." White grumbled, slamming a hand on the stearing wheel. Everyone was moving extra slow with the major snow fall the city was having.

He looked infront and behind him, making sure he didnt see can people or cars he recognized. Slowly he turned back in his seat, and thats when he saw her.

Max had falled asleep a little while ago, finally giving into the fatigue. Ames put the car in park, traffic wasnt moving anyways, and grabbed the blanket by her feet. Carefully, he wrapped it around her, brushing some stray strands of hair out of her face.

'Now maybe you wont get sick.' he thought while running a finger down her cheeck. "I need you... More than you know..."

**-Flash Back-**

Ames White, stronger then strong, stood suit and all, in a filthy wearhouse waiting for 452.

It was just past 11:30, and 452 wasnt due there until midnight. But then again, knowing her, she was probably already there. Leather suit and all, hidden somewhere in the shadows, making sure he wasnt trying to set up some kind of trap. Perdictable, but smart. After all, she was a solider.

Correction, is a solider.

'Shes a solider, just like the rest.' Ames told himself, remembering all the times he had re-read over her file. 'Just a solider...' he said, trailing off the thought as he saw a light flash outside the wearhouse door. A few moments later, Max pulled up on her bike, her eyes quickly shifting around the room.

'So she didnt come early...'

"This better not be some kind of trap White." she said quickly, turning off her bike and walking up to him. "No guns."

Ames looked at her funny. Why would she be worring about some guns?

"Just so that I know you wont shoot me." Max said, crossing her arms. Ames reached behind him and pulled a gun out from where he hid it from eyes.

"Better 452?"

Max nodded her head, eyes quickly darting from side to side. "Alright. You want help, I'm here. What do you want from me?"

"Wheres my son?"

"Cant tell you."

"Tell-"

"But I cant show you."

That made Ames pause. She wouldnt tell him, but she was willing to take him to his son.

"And whys that?"

"I fought to keep him away from you and your cult buddies, I'm not gonna let them get him back to corrupt his young mind."

"Then why wont you just tell me where he is?"

"Because, for all I know, you could just go and give him right back."

This ticked him off. Using his speed, he ran up to her and grabbed her throat and pushed her against a wall.

"Dont you dare doubt the love I have for my own son. Do you really think I want him to go through what I went through?!" he growled in her face, never moving his eyes from hers as his grip slightly tightend.

Max grabbed his wrist with her hands, trying to pull it from her throat. She looked right into his eyes, and was lost. She could see so many emotions. There was pain, guilt... fear.

"Understood." she chocked out, still not looking away.

Ames looked down into her eyes, and slowly let go of her throat. Max's hand reached up to where he had just had his hand, feeling around.

'Thats going to leave a bruse...' she thought.

"So, are you going to help me or not?"

"Yea, I'll help you." 'Logans gonna kill me...' Max thought quickly. "When do you wanna leave?"

"We'll meet here, same time, and go on from there." Ames turned towards his car.

"See ya tomorrow then."

"Good night 452."

**-.- Next Day -.-**

"Boo! You ready yet?" Original Cidny called through the bathroom door of thier apartment.

Inside, Max was looking at her neck from different angles... She still had some blue and purple spots...

"Here, let me try OC."

"Alright, but if shes..."

"I know I know..."

Alec stood back from the door, turned his arm to the locked object, and ran at it. Just as his shoulder was about to make contact with the door, Max opened it, and Alec landed on the floor... very hard.

"Fool..." Cidny said, shaking her head at the guy on her bathroom floor. "You ready to go girl?"

"Yup." Max smiled. "For once, I acctually want to go to work." she laughed as she grabbed her bicycle and walked out of the apartment, Cidny and Alec behind her.

**-.- Two Blocks Away From Jam Pony -.-**

"So Max..." Alec trailed off, catching up to her. "You're not thinking about helping White are you?"

"Why would you care?" she asked quickly.

"Because I'm curious." he said innocently, and playful smile on his face. But the smile was quickly gone as he moved his arm out infront of her, a silent single to stop, Original Cidny pulling up beside them.

"What?" Max asked, both her and Cidny looking around the street. Alec pointed out toward the left slightly, at a man leaning casually against a parked car.

Max sighed in aggravation. Ames had great timing...

"You guys stay here. Or better yet, head off to work." she sighed, the took off toward him.

"Isnt that the black helicopter dude from yesterday?" Cidny asked, looking from Ames to Alec.

"Yea. Come on, like hell I'm leaving him alone with her." Alec said, and rode off into a near by ally, Cidny close behind.

**-.-**

"Alright, why are you here?" Max asked, constanly looking over her shoulder.

"The Conclave have already sent out people to get Ray. We have to go now."

"Now?!"

"Yes, now, now get in the car."

"I cant! I have work."

"Get 494 to take your shift if you have to, we have to go now."

"I cant! Get it through your head!"

"Do you want them to get Ray?"

"...No..."

"Thats what I thought. Now lets go."

"Not yet. Follow me, I have to do something." Max said, then turned her bike around and rode off in the direction of her apartment, Ames jumping into his car and driving after her.

**-.-**

"Shes going back home." Cidny said after the car was gone.

"I know, we have to follow her, lets go." Alec said, and turned down another ally, Cidny following closely.

**-.-**

Max ran around her apartment, finally finding a pen. She wrote down a note to Cidny and Alec quickly, then left it on the seat of her Ninja, and dashed out the door, flying down the stairs. Alec and Cidny watched as she dashed out the door from the other hall, and quickly entered the apartment and ran to the living room. They watched as she ran out of the building and got into White's car, and saw the car speed off.

"Dammit Max!" Alec yelled. Cidny slowly walked over to her roommates motorcycle, which was parked in all its glory to the side of the living room. On the black leather seat, there was a note that Max left for her.

_Dear Cidny, _

_I'm in a rush, So I'm going to keep this short. Ray's in trouble. Have to help him. Dont care what Alec and Logan think. Tell them not to even try to follow, or risk an ass kicking._

_Thanks,_

_Max._

"Ummmm... Alec?"

"Yea?"

"Here." Cidny handed him the note, and he read it over quickly.

"Shit!"

**-End Flash Back-**

**-.- End Chapter Three -.-**

There you go! Now since This is my thired Chapter, I thought I'd reply to some reviews...

Elizabeth Annette : Thank you! And as for that... (nervous laugh) Well, this idea just came to me before school ended while I was bored, zoned out, and not listing to the teacher... So I didnt really figure that out. Lets just say, after Max took away Ray, and before Freak Nation. 'Kay? )

aurora : Thanx! I'm sorry about the outta character stuff... But the shows been canceled for a while. Sorry! Hope this chapter was better about that!

X5-666 : Thank you for the reviews!! And as for the pairing, I dont really know... Heh heh. P

Eruanne : Thanks. I never really thought I was good at writing. Thats kinda why I joined Because I thought I sucked! lol. Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter! Thanks for the review!!

TikigirlK16 : Thanks for the review. And for the pairing, I have no clue... I really suck at the whole planning thing! lol.

ontheDL : Well, lets just say, waking up to your review made me smile! Thank you! And when I read it over I like how I made Cidny treat him too... lol! I'm happy you like my story! Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter!

kittie 45 : Well I'm happy I made your day because you made mine with your review! thanx! hope you liked this chapter too!

There ya go! Those are the people that reviewed for either chapter 12, or just 2. Thank you to all my reviewers!!

Review please!


	4. Chapter Four

Holy shit! When was the last time I updated this? No. Let's not think about that... I'd rather not get virtually stabbed.

Terribly, terribly sorry. I'm sure you all know the phrase 'Son of a Bitch Writers Block...'

Anyways, let's get on with the latest chapter!

Oh, and I own nothing. Nothin'.

**-Chapter Four-**

"452." White said softly, turning softly in the still heavy traffic. He looked up at the street sign, and read 200th and 53rd street. "Wake up 452." he said again, this time jabbing her in the shoulder with a finger.

"Relax, I'm awake." he heard her grumble, turning her back to him and looking out the window. "You stopped, why?"

"They blocked off 200th up the hill. We need another way."

"They blocked it off?" she said, finally turning from the window to look at him. She sighed, and closed her eyes. White had no clue of knowing what was going through her head while her eyes shifted behind her eyes lids back and forth.

"Alright." she said, opening her eyes. "Go down 53rd. Two lights after you go over a small bridge go right. It's a little bit farther, but the hills not as steep, so they wouldn't have had to block it off."

Ames nodded, pulling the SUV away from the curb, heading down 53rd and quickly speeding up to cross 203rd before the light went from yellow to red.

Max looked out the window again, shaking her head a little and glaring at the snow. With the last twenty four hours she had gone through, snow seemed to be a new enemy.

_-.- Flash Back -.-_

"Head up to Canada." Max said, throwing a small duffle bag onto the back seat.

"Canada?"

"Yes White, Canada."

Ames glared at her from the corner of his eye, taking the right turn toward the sector gates. As they approached the guards, he noticed Max sit back in her seat and zip up her jacket, then tilt her head towards the floor of the car. Once they passed, the fat guard that checked White's badge not even looking suspiciously at the girl in the passenger seat, she seemed to straighten up and look at him curiously.

"Don't stare at me, speak if you have something to say." Ames said lowly, annoyed that the, the abomination, dare look at him.

"What's with all the pictures?" Max asked, eyes narrowing. "I'd think you familiars would be obsessed with snakes, not transgenics."

White couldn't help it. He laughed. Laughed at her ignorance and stupidity. "You can't be that stupid 452!" he taunted. "The Conclave supervised the experiments, which later turned into you freaks. The last thing Sandemen worked on was the X5's, so they watched all of you the most. Then, of course, 12 of you escaped. When Manticore got you back when you and your unit tried to torch the place, they watched you more closely then the others."

"But why?"

White rolled his eyes at her question, but for some reason that was unknown to him, answered anyways. "You had been on the outside. You knew what was out there, and you didn't lose your training. You alone knew how to survive out there on your own without orders, and the others didn't. You, 452, surprised them." White said, the last sentence coming out more like it disgusted him more then the rest. "They expected you rouges to collapse, or better yet, screw up and get killed in the streets, only to be recognized by the trusted few when your barcodes flashed across the TV screen, but it never happened."

Max nodded her head slowly, contemplating what she had just been told. They had expected the few that got away with their lives to fail, and then laugh when the ten o'clock news reported the odd tattoos and hair cuts, not to mention the army clothes. She felt disgusted, like someone was turning her insides around and around. But then again, she should have expected that.

They both sat quietly after Max's questions, neither making a noise until they reached the Canada/US border, where there all they had to do was state their names.

"Sir, Ma'am." the Canadian officer said, tilting his head to both in greeting. "My I have your names?"

"Ames White." White said, handing over his drivers' license. The officer smiled, then reached across him for the card Max handed him.

"Max Guevara." he said, reading her card. "Beautiful name Ma'am."

"Thank you." Max said sweetly, smiling up at the man, noticing how Ames scowled slightly.

"Well," he said after leaving with the two pieces of ID and coming back, handing them to Ames. "You two be careful. We just had some news come in from Vancouver. The roads are getting foggy and most of the lower mainland is getting some heavy snow."

"Thanks." Ames said coldly, driving off as soon as the man opened the gate.

A few minutes later, Ames had completely eased his foot off the accelerator. The officer was right, and Ames was starting to get a sinking feeling in him that said he had some really shitty karma.

Outside, the entire road was completely fogged up. For when they had crossed the border, the road was one lane with ditches and forest on either side and now, thick fog covered everything. He couldn't even see past the hood of his sedan, and the fog lights were on! Every once in a while he would see 452 lean forward in her seat, then sit back and start twitching her leg. It seemed she couldn't see through it either, and the fact that she was twitching and unable to sit still unnerved him.

"Can you see anything?" he asked, breaking the unspoken vow between them to keep silent for as long as possible.

"Not a thing." she said grimly, leaning forward again. "Not even the dividing line. This is insane!"

"Well, you're not the one driving." Ames said, squinting himself over then the drivers wheel and through the front windshield.

"Wait-" she said quickly, taking off her seat belt to lean closer to the glass. "What are those lights?"

Ames looked ahead of him, leaning back into his seat slightly. Slowly two head lights appeared ahead of him, first small and dull, then brighter as they seemed to grow bigger in size.

"18 wheeler!" Max said eyes wide. "Move!"

Ames jerked the wheel to the right, the car letting out an ear splitting screech when he yanked it back towards the left again, though it was too late.

The last thing either of them saw before the black sedan dove off the road and into the snow was an eighteen wheeler drive by without slowing down or inching to either side of the road, as if they hadn't been there at all.

* * *

Max came to her senses slowly, pain shooting throughout her body. Opening her eyes fraction by fraction, she looked around at her surroundings. 

Her door was smashed in, as well as half of the front of the car, the place that had hit a tree a little ways away. She turned her head and looked at Ames. He appeared unconscious, with a small gash on the side of his head. Max touched her own forehead, trying to see if she was bleeding as well. She pulled down the small mirror from in front of her. There was a long cut on her cheek, and a deep one on her bottom lip, but that was it.

Quickly, Max crawled out of her seat and sat on Ames' lap facing him. She moved some of his hair away from the gash on his head, and made sure it wasn't too deep. Once she was sure, she kicked the door open and got out of the car.

Slowly, she crawled out of the car and onto a thin layer of fresh snow. Looking around, she noticed that they had indeed hit a tree near the highway, and then were thrown behind it and down a hill.

As fast as her sore limbs would let her, Max climbed the hill towards the tree they had hit. There were wood chips scattered everywhere. Max then walked up to the dark road and knelt down beside it. Using her enhanced sight, she could see patches of black ice everywhere down and up the road. There were tire marks in all of them, but she could tell which ones they hit and spun out on because the tires had split them.

Bored with staring at the road, she turned around and headed back towards the car.

* * *

Slowly, Ames started to be able to feel his arms and legs again. At first, he thought that when they were thrown from the road he hit his head and died. But then he opened his eyes and quickly looked around him. Surprisingly, 452 wasn't in the car. Finding out that his body wouldn't let him move yet, he closed his eyes. 

Once he was able to move, he got out of the car and slowly stood up. Looking around, he could see foot prints in the snow. As he followed them with his eyes, he saw Max come down the snow covered slope. Once she got to the bottom, her back straightened and he looked her over.

She was covered in snow, with her hair damp from snow that had melted. He could see a thin cut on her right cheek, with a deeper one that looked like it was still bleeding on her lip.

"You okay?" she asked, noticing the gash on his head had stopped bleeding.

"I'm fine." he replied, looking past her and up the road.

"We need a new car. Yours is totaled." Max said, looking over at the wrecked car.

"Come on, I have a plan."

* * *

'Ugh.' Max thought, rubbing the sides of her arms. She stood in the middle of the lane, in the fog waiting for someone to come down the road. 

'Why do I have to freeze my ass off waiting for some car!' she looked to her left and glared at a tree, where Ames was staying out of sight. She rubbed her arms again, wishing he had let her to at least keep her jacket. This plan was suicide. She got to stand in the middle of the road, in her bike shorts and a very thin tank top, waiting for some car to come by and stop. Then, Ames would jump in the car, she would knock them out, and off they'd go.

She was going to kill him.

But sure enough, once she finished her thought, two lights slowly appeared through the fog. As they got closer, she stood straight and still, looking off into space. Once the driver of the car saw her in front of him, he slammed on the brake, bringing the big SUV to a halt.

"Holy shit!" a man said as he jumped out of the passenger side door and ran up to her, the driver doing the same thing.

Neither noticed Ames slip out from behind the trees and bushes and into the drivers vacated seat.

"Hey, you okay lady?" the driver asked. Slowly, Max started to shake, still looking off into nothing, making her eyes seem clouded over. Both men started to panic, not knowing what to do. Using the time she had, Max stopped shaking and banged the two guy's heads together. She threw them lightly down the hill she had come up, and then hopped into the passenger side of the Ford Explorer.

"Now where are we going?" Ames asked, tossing her her clothes and taking the car out of park.

"200th street Langley, get there."

_-.- End Flash Back-.-_

Max sat back at Ames turned the corner, heading down the street the house was on. They had to approach it the longer way, but at least they'd get there before the others.

Looking around, she noticed all the houses with Christmas lights up, looking all cheerful and happy in the snow and new season. Right now, if Canada was getting snow, there was no doubt Seattle was in a down pour.

Turning down another street, Ames stopped the car in front of a blue-ish colored house, with small trees that were highly decorated outside. Turning off the car, he turned to her.

"We're here."

**-End Chapter-**

**Terribly terribly sorry! I know I haven't updated for a really long (yes, LONG) time. Forgive me! And please review! I promise to update in at least two weeks. This and my Andromeda story must be finished!**

**Review!**


	5. Chapter Five

**Alright, before you read this, I have to warn you. I can't remember who Max gave Ray to in the second season, so, I'm going to call her **_**Aunt Becky**_**. I'm terribly sorry if I'm wrong, but I seriously can't remember.**

-Chapter Five-_

* * *

"We're here." _

Max looked out the window at the house. Two lights were on, one downstairs near the front door, and another upstairs. Looking closer, she could see a big green tree through the upstairs window, though it wasn't decorated.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked, looking over at Ames who was yet to leave the car. She punched his arm lightly, and his head snapped over to face her. "Get going, we don't have all day for him to pack so we can get moving."

Nodding slowly, though he didn't know why he was, he opened the car door and got out, walking around the large sized SUV as Max got out as well. Looking up into the second floor window one last time, he headed towards the door.

* * *

A young boy, looking the age of eight sat on a white rug, in the middle of two couches, and a huge pile of multi colored Christmas lights. He picked the ending of one up, and tugged it a little. With the little, light movement, it seemed like a giant creature of wires and lights jumped on him. 

"Gah!" he said, trying, and pathetically, to get out of the tangled mess.

"This is insane!" he told himself. Lights were everywhere, and one even stabbed the poor boy in the eye. "That's it!" he said, jumping up and untangling him self from the wires. His arms seemed to move so fast that they blurred together before he was able to step away from the small lights that were a symbol of gifts and happiness.

He sighed. Aunt Becky had told him to wait. After all, she was only running to the store to get some dough for the pies they'd make tomorrow. But did he listen? No. His mother would've said that he was exactly like his father. That was probably true.

Walking over to the living room window, he looked out at the falling snow. It was nice here in Canada. It always rained in Seattle, but he'd always miss it. And when he had gone with Aunt Becky to San Francisco, he didn't like it. It wasn't home, and no place could replace Seattle. But at least Canada, especially British Columbia, had its rainy season that reminded him of his run down, broke, cold, wet, but _his_,hometown.

Smiling as he thought about it, he noticed a dark SUV roll up towards the house, and stop before the front yard. Ducking down, an old habit he had learnt quickly, he watched as no one got out, and the car turned off. It sat there for a minute, and the boy started to wonder who was in it. Then, looking closely, he noticed a tall man with brown hair step out of the driver's side in a suit, and a woman with longer dark hair step out from the passenger's side in jeans and a leather jacket.

A huge grin found its way onto the boys face, and fast. He sprung up form his position against the window, sprinting downstairs and almost running into the door when he forgot to open it in his joy.

"Dad!"

* * *

As they approached the door, Max hung back a bit, letting her self look at the decorations. All around the front yard were small trees and bushes, and more of them and lights strewn all over them. There was even a pattern. One tree had solid, glowing lights, while the one beside it had lights that would be bright, then fade, then come back again, and beside that, the bush had blinking lights. This went on and on the outside of the yard, and she found it amazing. Seattle didn't usually have this on the outside front lawns, let alone snowflakes falling from the sky. It all seemed unreal. 

Looking back in front of her at White as he walked down the drive way, she heard the front door click, then slam against the outside wall. She didn't even see anyone come out of the house until a ball of red and black thabric launched itself at White.

She smiled, realizing the only one who it could be. White picked up Ray and held him close, and Ray buried his head into his fathers shoulder, saying things so fast they were completely incoherent. For a minute, they just stood there like that, until Ray picked his head up.

"Max!" he said, and if possible, the grin on his face grew bigger. White let him down and watched as his son ran over to the women behind him, hugging her waist and looking up at her.

"Hey Ray." she said, smiling back at him and ruffling his hair.

"Guess what guess what!" he said quickly. "It's almost Christmas! And my school gets out in a week!" he said, then grabbed her hand and dragged her over to his father, then grabbed his hand as well and dragged them both inside the house.

"You guys have to stay. My schools gonna have a big Christmas concert on the last day and you have to come!" he smiled up at them. "You _will_ stay, wont you?"

Max looked over at White, not sure what to say. He didn't know what to say either. It wasn't like they planned to stay. Or that they could. The Conclave were on the way, and most likely way to close. They had to leave _now_.

The both of them made the mistake of looking down at the young boy. He gave them his best impression of a puppy dog, and he knew that they were puppets on string.

"So, you will, wont you?" he said sweetly. "Please..."

"Ray..." Max began, not knowing what to say to the poor kid.

"Ray! I'm - oh." said a light voice from the door, which made Max and White both jump. Becky, the one that had been watching over Ray all this time stood at the door, looking at the three of them oddly. "Max? Ames?" she questioned, thoroughly confused as to why they would be in Canada, let alone together, or in her home.

"Yup!" Ray said, jumping in front of the two. "They came for Christmas Aunt Becky!"

"No we didn't." Ames said. "Go pack your stuff Ray, we're leaving."

"Excuse me?" Becky said, shutting the door behind her and putting her hands on her hips. "You can't exactly just come down here and take him away you know."

Ames raised an eyebrow at this, and Ray and Max backed off the watch them argue it out from the stairs.

"He's my son. I'm taking him home."

"You can't. He has school! I got him into one of the best in the Province. You can't just take him out now."

"You want to bet on that?"

"You can't! They won't let him leave Ames."

"Then I'll go to the school in the morning and give them a good reason to excuse his absence in the last week, and the rest of the year."

"Hey Max," Ray whispered from beside her. "Wait here, 'kay?"

She nodded and he sprinted upstairs. She turned her attention back to the two adults in front of her.

"And what will your excuse be?"

"That he has to come back to Seattle. We're moving."

"And where will you be moving to?"

Ames paused, and Ray came downstairs, holding a black kitten out to Max.

"Cute huh?" he said.

"Very cute." she said, letting the cat rest in her lap.

"Some where very far away from Canada." Ames said, then turned to the X5. "You aren't going to say anything are you?"

"Oh no. I think you're doing quite fine on your own." she said, not looking up form the cat on her lap.

"The school won't let him out without both parents consent on paper Ames." Becky said, sighing.

"Then I'll write them a note." he sneered.

"I doubt that'll work." Max said, swatting the kittens paw. "If they need both parents consent, they most likely won't just take the signature of the father."

"But mom's not exactly able to sign a piece of paper." Ray pointed out.

"Then we'll go now." Ames said, but Max shook her head.

"They'll report him missing, and then we'll have your little buddies, and Canada police following us." she said, still playing with the kitten.

"Little buddies?" Becky asked, but was rightfully ignored.

"Then I suppose you have a plan?"

"Yes." Max said, but this time she did look up at him. "I say we stay here and wait it out. He can stay for the week if it means that we have less people on our backs."

"So you're staying?" Ray said, eyes lighting up like it was already his birthday and Christmas morning.

"Are you insane?" White questioned, moving to stand in front of Max. "We can't just stay here and give them a full week to find us."

"Listen," Max sighed, giving the kitten over to Ray and standing up. "You're thinking with the whole parental lobe of your brain, and I'm using training that out weighs yours. So, relax, spend some time with your son, and trust a little will ya?"

And with that, she climbed up the stairs and left them in silence.

* * *

White woke up slowly to the shifting of sheets beside him. Without opening his eyes, he knew she was doing something. 

Earlier in the evening, they had been told that they'd have to share a room. Of course, this brought many refusals and threats from both adults, but they came to an understanding. If one of them crossed their side of the bed, the other would be able to break their finger.

Of course, he had a feeling that even if 452 rolled over on to his side of the bed in her sleep, she'd find a way to blame it on him and break _his_ finger. It wasn't a comforting thought.

But, there was an upside. If she got up to leave, he'd know, and would be able to follow her.

As she was doing now.

Once he was sure that she left the room, he opened his eyes and got out of bed slowly, not caring to pull a shirt over his pajama pants as he moved to the door way. Looking out cautiously, he saw her slip down the stairs in the dark, and followed quickly. By the time he reached the fourth stair, she was already near the back, glass door, opposite of the front door they had come in through. Beside it was the keypad control to the alarm system, and he watched as she punched in the numbers with ease.

The red light turned green and she opened the door, leaving it slightly ajar. He followed.

* * *

Max moved quickly down a narrow hallway, not stopping at any of the doors until she reached the last one. She slipped in quickly and left it open, knowing that White was following her. 

Across from the door, she practically skipped over to the computer, sitting down in the chair and turning it on.

"What are you doing?" whispered White as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to check tomorrow's weather." she said sarcastically, typing in the password when the computer screen asked for it. "Your son's a smart boy. Gave me the passwords over dinner by flipping through magazines and asking me questions."

"So you're going to raid her computer?"

"Hey, you wanna learn about a person, steal their wallet, palm pilot, and check their PC. This is standard stuff, you should know this." she tsk'd, searching through the computers hard drive quickly, committing everything to her photographic memory to go over later.

"Check her chat logs." White said, leaning on the back of the chair as the X5 worked. "Might be something in there."

Max obliged, opening the folder and started memorizing each e-mail address. Soon enough, the computer's clock said 5:00 am, meaning they had already been down there for an hour.

"Come on." Max said, hitting the power button on the computer tower in stead pushing shut down. "Ray said Becky wakes up for work at six."

With that, they went back up to their room and put the alarm back on, not seeing the pair of eyes watching them as they left.

* * *

-End Chapter- 

Heh heh. All done chapter five! Maybe next chapter or so, we'll see what's happening back in Seattle. :)

Reviews-

aurora -

Heh... Thanks. I would never abandon a story. Maybe neglect it a little... (NOT ON PURPOSSE! I SWEAR!) But I always come back to it! And Max is important to White because a), she knew where Ray was, b), she apparently knows how to get around BC, and c), well, that'll come up later. Thanks for the review!

angelofdarkness78 -

Thanks for the compliment! Hope you liked this chapter too!

ontheDL -

Aww! Thank you! I promise to try and like, well, not neglect this story over the summer. I really do have plans for it, but sometimes, I can't put them into words, or the stuff that I need to lead up to the good parts. It really sucks. But thanks for the review, and I hope you liked this chapter as well!

And Thank You's to ayla3baby, sylvie, LoneCat, Lin, and Kelzaa !

Kasumi


	6. Chapter Six

**Feel free to consider this a filler chapter, since it takes place back in Seattle. It's still an important chapter though!

* * *

**

**Chapter Six**

"Mmm, mmm, mmm!"

"Hey, whatcha got OC?"

"Look it," Cindy said, coming around a glass wall to stand in front of Sketchy as he sat on the couch in Logan's living room. "Boy got good wine! Red wine!"

"Hey, who is this guy anyways?" Sketchy asked, looking up and around the big room.

Cindy shrugged, treating it as something small, answering with a quiet "Friend of Max." while pouring some wine for the both of them.

"Where is Max?"

Cindy looked at him oddly. "You just keep asking questions today don't you?"

"What? And where's Alec too?" he asked, taking a sip of the pre-pulse wine.

"Max's aunt died so Alec and her friend went up to Canada with her. Good 'nuff answer for ya?"

"Ohh.." Sketchy said, putting down the cup of wine on the coffee table before him. "I didn't know Max and Alec were so close."

"They aint." Cindy said, scowling a little at her friend.

"Then why did he go?" Sketchy asked, and Cindy questioned silently how he could ask so many questions and sound completely innocent the whole while.

"Max and Alec spent a lot of time growing up together as kids, and he always liked her aunt, so he's gonna go pay his last respects too."

"Ohhhh..." he said, nodding his head. "So where are they going in Canada?"

Cidny shook her head and drank some more wine. "It don't matter. Besides, Original Cidny wasn't told. And you know why? Because Original Cidny didn't ask." she finished, nodding her head. Sketchy smiled, knowing that she didn't know because she wasn't told, and she probably did ask, but never found out.

"Okay..." he smiled, taking some more wine when his companion offered it. "But what are we gonna tell Normal?"

"Now that I can answer."

..Flash Back..

_Dear Cidny, _

_I'm in a rush, so I'm going to keep this short. Ray's in trouble. Have to help him. Don't care what Alec and Logan think. Tell them not to even try to follow, or risk an ass kicking._

_Thanks,_

_Max._

"Ummmm... Alec?"

"Yea?"

"Here." Cidny handed him the note, and he read it over quickly.

"Shit!"

"Calm down fool," Cidny said, taking the note away from him. "She left her bike here, which means she must be planning to get back soon."

"Yeah, unless White kills her!" Alec yelled, beginning to pace around the living room. "Did she learn nothing! With all that she's known for, surviving, escaping Manticore, Renfro and Lydecker, _twice_," here, he pointed at OC to further his point before continuing with the pacing, "you'd think she'd be smart enough not to go with White!"

"Calm down already would ya?" Cidny said, sitting down on the couch to watch the X5 in a more comfortable position.

"We need to tell Logan." he said quickly, his pacing stopping. "Logan will know what to do."

"Yeah, let's go tell Logan. That way the both of you can start buggin' for no reason together." Cidny said sarcastically, but still followed Alec out the door and down the stairs with her bike anyways.

..Logan's Penthouse..

"Uh-hey guys..." Logan said, looking at Alec ad Cidny oddly when they walked into his kitchen.

"Read this." Cidny said, handing him the note. "Before the smart ass back there starts talkin' again."

Logan took the note and unfolded it, quickly looking it over. By the time he was done, his jaw looked slightly dislocated and his eyes were wide.

"I know!" was all Alec said, waving his arms for emphasis.

"We have to get her." Logan said, saying it again before walking into his computer room. He quickly grabbed his laptop and the gun he kept in the top drawer before re-entering the kitchen. By then, Cidny had positioned herself in front of the door and Alec had Logan's car keys and his jacket in hand.

"Oh no ya don't." OC said, hands on her hips. "You read the note. My boo always sticks to her word."

"But you don't understand," Logan began, getting a glare from the women in front of him. "Max is in trouble. White will kill her without warning."

"You're acting like she's gonna let him!" OC said, shaking her head. "You two should calm down and relax, aiight? You," she pointed at Logan, "Go back to your computer hacking or whatever you do, and you," she pointed at Alec this time, "Have work. Max will be home soon, so quit freaking!"

Alec and Logan shared a look before Alec stepped towards her. He expected her to move back a step, and when she didn't, he scolded himself for thinking she would. After all, Original Cidny could be scary in her own respect.

"I'm really, really sorry Cin." Alec said, taking another step towards her. "We both hope you wont hold this against us, and I'm hoping more then Logan that you wont tell Max when we bring her back..." he sighed. "'Cause she'll most likely throw me out the window."

Using his enhanced speed against his friend, he moved up beside her and hit a pressure point in her neck, grabbing her and lowering her to the floor slowly.

"She'll be out for about an hour or two." Alec said, but found Logan to be gone. When he came back, he seemed to have some kind of bracelet in his hand. He put it on her wrist, and before Alec knew it, they were down in his car on the way to the border.

..A Few Hours Later..

Cidny slowly came to, feeling a cold floor against her back and a breeze coming from behind her head. Slowly opening her eyes, she noticed that there was a piece of paper blocking her view from a light. Sitting up, she opened the neatly folded paper and started to read.

_Dear Cidny,_

_We are deeply sorry about knocking you out, but it was necessary. Max needs help. She's clearly not thinking straight, and needs to come home. We can't let her stay there within arms reach of Ames White._

_I've called your boss, and told him that you've come down with a highly contagious sickness that if anyone who hasn't got it yet gets it, it could be fatal. I wasn't surprised when he said your friend Sketchy could take care of you and immediately yelled at him to go to my address to look after you (and hopefully get killed when you sneeze on him) once his shift was up, and no sooner. You should be covered for quite awhile._

_You'll notice that you're now wearing a bracelet on your left wrist. This has a specially planted computer chip in it that will tell me if you leave the house at anytime through my laptop and cell phone. Don't leave the house, don't go into the computer room, and don't answer the phone, the answering machine can get it._

_Feel free to eat and watch what you please. I just went shopping yesterday and there's some money on the kitchen counter for you to use. Enjoy your time._

_Once again, Alec and I are deeply sorry for this._

_Logan Cale_

Original Cidny read it twice, three times, then four times before looking at her wrist. There was in fact a bracelet wrapped around her dark wrist, a gold one at that. She turned her head and looked at the locked door, then back to the wrist.

"Nahh." she said to herself. "Knowin' how smart that boy is, he probably is tellin' the straight up truth."

Shaking her head from side to side to make sure she wasn't dizzy or light headed, she stood up and walked over to the bills on the kitchen counter, which consisted of some twenties and a few fifties. She smiled and walked into the living room, sitting back and relaxed, more then planning to enjoy her free stay with food, cash, one hell of a view, and whatever else Mr. Logan Cale had hidden around.

..End Flash Back..

"So that's why he sent me down?" Sketchy asked after Cidny told him what the letter Logan had left her said. "He just said that you were sick and you wanted me to hold your hair while you threw up."

"How sweet of him." Cidny said sourly, taking a big gulp of wine before someone knocked at the door.

"Who was that?" Sketchy asked, and OC just raised an eyebrow at him before the person on the other side of the door knocked again.

Getting up from her spot of the couch, she walked over to the door. She quickly went over what the letter had said in her head, finding that he indeed, had not told her to not answer his door. She just couldn't answer the phone.

"Logan, you there?" said a feminine voice from the other side of the door. "Hello? Open the-" she stopped though; when the door actually opened and she wasn't greeted with Logan's face, not even Max's.

"Who're you?" OC asked, tilting her head to the side and staring at the blond.

"Asha, I'm a friend of Logan's." she said slowly, peering over OC's head and between her afro like pigtails. "He's not home is he?"

"Nope. But you were here earlier, weren't you?" Cidny asked, then suddenly sung the door open and let her inside. "Yeah, I remember you. You were here yesterday."

"Yeah." Asha said nodding, and then smiled politely when Sketchy came into the room. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but was stopped short when OC quickly went "Boo's friend." to answer his unspoken question.

"So," Asha said after a quick moment. "They left?"

"Mhmm." Cidny said, moving to stand in front of her, making her first sentence very clear with an upward twitch of her eyebrows. "They already left to go and pay their last respects to Max's aunt. You just missed them."

Asha gave them both a small smile, nodding. "Then, you wont mind if I call them from Logan's computer room, would you?"

Once again, OC mentally referred to the letter, finding yet another flaw. That poor, poor man was going to really screw up big time one day.

Putting on a big smile, Original Cidny nodded her own head. "Go 'head."

**

* * *

**

End Chapter Six

**And so it is the end of the chapter. Doesn't that just make you wonder what will happen when Logan and Alec find Max? That is, if they do... ;)**

Reviews -

aurora -

Thank you! I hope that you enjoy this chapter too!

angelofdarkness78 -

Thank you... I hope you don't mind this chapter, since it didn't have them in it. But the next chapter will!

ayla3baby -

Thanks! Hope you like this chapter too!

THEHUNTRESS06 -

Thank you. I hope you liked this chapter just as much as the others.

ontheDL -

That exactly whets going on with me this story! I know exactly what I'm doing, but putting it into words is a total pain. And I do hope you don't mind this chapter... More Ray cuteness soon! Thanks for the review. :)

Jen Drake -

Thank you! Hope you liked this chapter as well!

**Well, thank you to you all. I love hearing from you all, it's very inspiring, and gets me writing. Thank you!**

-Kasumi


	7. Chapter Seven

**Ahhhh... Another long awaited chapter! I do hope it didn't take to long for your liking, because I've been busy. School's coming up. So I wanted to say this now.**

**During the school year, I'm not sure about how many times I'll be able to update. So, I'm going to try and write whenever I can, whether it's on the computer or on paper during the oh - so boring subjects I have to take. I truly am sorry for this, but it's just the way things work.**

**Thank you for your future patience. (Hopefully)**

**

* * *

**

**-.- Chapter Seven -.-**

Max sat down at the dinning room table, head resting in one hand while the other twirled in circles over Ray's cat, Kitz, while her eyes looked out the second story window.

"Mew!" Kitz mewed repeatedly while he kicked at Max's finger with his back foot, never noticing that Max's mind wasn't with him and his cute little appearance, but back to the early morning.

'She didn't have any documents on her computer.' she thought. 'No documents in the recycle folder either. Four different emails in Chat Logs, and Ray had his own file with 66 MB's in it.'

Getting up from the chair, she grabbed the cat and let him sit on her right shoulder as she made her way downstairs.

As Ray had said, Becky had woken up early and taken a shower, woken up Ray, and started making breakfast for everyone. After that, she had gone off to her work, a branch of an insurance company from Toronto, and Ames had taken Ray to school. She was left at home to occupy herself.

"You'll find something to do." Ames said as he and Ray walked out the door. He had looked behind her and given her one of those smirks that just made her want to punch him square in the face. "Besides, I think Ray's cat likes you."

And with that, he had left her to her own devices inside a large, two story house, with absolutely nothing to do and in the company of a one month old kitten.

She was simply thrilled.

At ten a.m., she had done sit up's and push up's for an hour, simply trying to escape the bordem of an empty house. She would have left to scope out the city, but the last thing she needed was familiars breaking in to wait for Ray to get home and kidnap him without anyone knowing any better. Of course, she could always just lock the doors, but after doing her sit ups, had found out the White had taken the last key.

At eleven, she had gone down stairs to the same room that held the computer that she broke into earlier that morning. Besides the computer, the room also held a dark blue pool table and a fifty-two inch TV. She played pool for about fifteen minutes, stopping hen Kitz jumped on the table and started chasing after the moving balls, then turned to the TV. She channel surfed until she found come action flick, S.W.A.T. Unfortunately, not even that kept her attention long, for it reminded her to much of her training days and she kept on wanting to voice their mistakes and better ways to get their job done. She didn't even finish watching the movie.

At twelve, she was ready for White to come back, walk through to front door, and find nothing. She was prepared for him to walk up the stairs and look down the hall before making his way to the kitchen. She was even more then prepared for him to open the fridge door, and all ready for him to close it so she could startle him and stab him while yelling, "This is what you get for keeping me in this damn house asshole!".

Unfortunately, it never happend.

By twelve forty-five, she admitted to Kitz, who at that time was taking a nap beside her foot, that her imagination went into an over load work mode and that she needed to get out the house.

That didn't happen either.

Now it was two o'clock, and there was still no sign of the elusive Ames White. She was previously hoping that he would come back and just give her the key, not wanting to be in her presence for long, but things were not looking up.

But before she decided to start doing more push ups and sit ups, there was a click from the front door downstairs. Jumping up from the living room floor, she looked over the stairs railing, waiting to see who had come home.

"You here 452?" Ames asked, knowing the answer, has he closed and locked the door behind him.

"Take a wild guess White." she drawled, appearing before him on the stairs landing within seconds. "You kept me here without a key for an entire day. You're lucky I haven't killed you yet."

"Just another blessing." he quipped, tossing a key at her. "Go pick up Ray form his school. If you've been here all day on your own, I'm not about to doubt you haven't done _something_ productive." He looked at her. "But then I could've hit my head and be having a very, very horrible dream."

"I'm flattered."

"You should be."

"What will you be doing while I'm gone? Becky doesn't get home 'til about seven, seven thirty." Max said, slipping on her old pair of runners and her leather jacket, Kitz sitting on the floor between them.

"Going through any history on her computer and palm pilot."

"Palm pilot?" Max asked, thinking back. She didn't see Becky with one of those...

White reached inside his jacket pocket and brought out an old, scrapped looking black palm pilot. Turning it on, he tossed it to her. The words "Becky's Work Book" flashing across the screen before a mini calendar showed up for the month.

"You said it yourself 452," White sneered, a smirk appearing on his face before he walked up to her and grabbed the electronic away. "This is all standard."

* * *

Max looked around the white playground of Rays school, not surprised to find frozen swings, deflated tires, and chipping wood structures with rock hard frozen gravel under it all. She walked towards a wide slide, the gravel under her feet crunching and breaking with each step. 

As she walked, other parents began to file in, standing either at the front of their children's class room doors, the front doors of the school, or on the side walk beside the trees or their own frost bitten cars.

Sitting down, she watched silently, looking out for any shifty looking men in long trench coats, knowing the appearance of them all to well for her liking.

"Hello?" a deep voice said from beside her, shocking her out of her thoughts. She must have jumped, for the next words to be said were "Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you miss."

"Its alright." she said automatically, looking around once more before turning to look at the owner of the voice.

He was a tall man, with deep red hair that stuck up at odd angles, covered in a light sheet of snow that was newly falling. His eyes were a bright green; though perhaps not that bright since the jacket he wore was a big black one, tuffs of fur sticking out from the collar.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your silence, but I haven't noticed you here before." he said, smiling softly. His hand moved from the pocket of his jacket to float in between them. "My names Nick McBrighen."

Max smiled politely and shook the man's hand. "Max Guevara." she said before her hand returned to her own jacket pocket.

"Waiting here for your little brother or sister?" the man asked, Max shaking her head.

"No, my fiancé's son."

The man appeared shocked by her answer, but it disappeared quickly with his next question.

"Who is he? I bet one of my kids know him." he said brightly.

Max paused, not knowing if she should tell him or not. He didn't look like a familiar, but then again, when she first met White back when she was his little prize in a cage, he didn't look like one either. And if he was, she reminded her self, she would have been shot already. Even in front of children in a school like this, they would use any opportunity to shoot any transgenic. Especially her.

"Ray White." she said just as the bell rang, the teachers letting out the children that filled into the grounds like a swarm of bees.

"Ahhh, he's in the same class as my little Sarah. They're great friends."

"Oh, really?" Max asked, using a tone that strangely reminded her of the time she played the blonde bimbo for some mobsters back in Seattle for Logan. Standing up, she used her transgenic sight to look around, instantly spotting Ray walking towards her with a young girl, both laughing merrily.

The girl had bright red hair tied back in pigtails, a green scarf around her neck that matched her father's eyes, neither noticing her watching them. She grabbed onto Ray's dark blue snow jacket as they walked across the uneven frozen rock, Ray pulling this black toque over his pinking ears with his other hand.

"Yeah, I usually give him a ride home now that it's colder then it was during autumn." Nick said, smiling when the two children noticed them, both trying to run but deciding not to when the ground became even worse.

"Dad!" Sarah yelled, running up to Nick and laughing when he lifted her up.

"Max, Max, Max, Max!" Ray said, sprinting over to her and crashing into her waist, which she was sure if she wasn't enhanced, she would have toppled right over form the force of him.

"I didn't know you were going to come and pick me up!" he said quickly, his head coming from her hip to look up at her. "I guess you've already met Nick, but this is his daughter Sarah! She's so cool! We're best of friends." he said; smile just as bright as it was the day before when she and Ames appeared on the front door step.

"I heard." she said smiling, patting his covered head with a slightly numb hand.

"Hey, do you guys want a ride?" Nick asked, Sarah on his hip, as the two turned back towards the side walk. "I have a truck, and there should be enough room. I already know where Ray lives."

"Oh no, it's alright." Max said, flashing a quick smile. "We'll be alright."

"Okay," Nick said, smiling. "See ya tomorrow Ray."

"Bye Nick! Bye Sarah!" Ray called, waving one hand while his over slipped into Max's.

"Bye Ray!" Sarah called before the two disappeared into the mass of people leaving the grounds.

* * *

White sat back in one of the leather chairs upstairs, flipping thought the palm pilot. 

He had just finished going through everything on the computer. He read everything, which included a poorly written book report by his only son.

He'd have to talk to Ray about his grades later.

It was only three thirty and he had already gone through all of Becky's events for the pervious years, and was now in September for the current. All that seemed to show up during this moth was 'Ray to Sarah's for dinner', 'Meeting with boss at noon', and 'Numbers due on Friday'.

To Ames, it seemed as if the woman didn't have a life at all. All she did was sit in an eight by ten office and work all day. Then come home, make Ray dinner, eat, and go to bed to wake up at some un godly hour to repeat yesterday. He had more of a life then this.

'You also work for the NSA in the states, have more money then you need, and a large interest in the sport of killing transgenics while getting the shit kicked out of you by a _girl_ every week or so.' a voice said in his head.

Ames scowled. He hated that little voice, and last time he checked, it was behind a mental barrier that shocked it every time it even thought about talking.

Deciding to ignore it, he went back to the palm pilot. November wasn't any different then September, which didn't differ at all when it turned into October, and his current job was starting to seem completely pointless. A normal day in 452's life must have been more interesting then this woman's, and all she did was listen to the poor freaks cry all day and work for her little 'Eyes Only' at night.

'She's also a transgenic that is supposed to bring the end of our soon to come reign, though while waiting for that, seems to like pissing you off every now and then.' the voice said, sounding more and more like a preaching parent.

'Shut up.' White thought, scowling, while going through December. There was absolutely nothing that the other months didn't have aside form the fact that exactly one week from the current Monday, it said 'Ray's X-Mas Concert'.

"That was absolutely point less and a waste of my time." he mumbled, tossing the device against the wall.

"Apparently." Max said smartly, smirking as he jumped and turned around to face her and she leant against the stairs railing. Ray popped up behind her, throwing his back pack down the hall towards his room before he jumped up onto the couch and hugged his father.

"Hi dad!" she said cheerfully, White ruffling his hair affectionately. "Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Yes."

"Umm... Well," Ray said his smile big and bright. "If I finish my math in about, oh, fifteen minutes, will you and Max pick my up at school tomorrow together?"

Both adults looked at the child suspiciously, wondering what his young mind was cooking up this time around.

"Fine." Max said, nodding her head and ignoring White's glare. "We'll be there."

"Okay!" Ray smiled, bounding off the couch and running into his room, quickly picking up a phone and dialing a number once he was sure his door was closed.

"What was that?" White asked, Max coming to sit on the coffee table in front of him.

"What did you find?" she countered.

"He's planning something. You realize that?"

"Don't think I'm stupid White." she said quietly. "I know he's thinking something, but he can think what he wants. We're getting him out of here Monday night, and that's final."

"You think staying here's my idea?" he hissed, glaring at the woman before him, wishing her a slow and painful death by his hands sometime in the near future.

"That I didn't say." she said, waving a finger in his face. "But we will be out of here. Until then, we need to learn some more things about this city."

"And how exactly do you want to do that, 452?" he said, drawing out the numbers in her designation.

"Simple." she said, choosing to ignore the fact that he still wouldn't call her by her name. "Ever walk around a city before?"**

* * *

**

-.- End Chapter Seven -.-

**Once again, sorry about the wait for this chapter... and the up coming ones... T.T**

**Reviews:**

**Apparently, (Or what I've heard)((More like read...)) we're not supposed to respond to reviews... If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me.**

**But, I would like to thank all of my reviewers and the people who check out my story! Thanks!**

**-Kasumi**


	8. Chapter Eight

**Hello again! Here is Chapter Eight, Monday Night and Early Tuesday Morning…**

**During the school year, I'm not sure about how many times I'll be able to update. So, I'm going to try and write whenever I can, whether it's on the computer or on paper during the oh - so boring subjects I have to take. I truly am sorry for this, but it's just the way things work.**

**Thank you for your future patience. (Hopefully)**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

"Another dark alley, 452?" White sneered, ignoring her 'It's Max!' as she dragged him down the narrow street between two fairly tall buildings. "But, I suppose you can't help it, considering your DNA…" he trailed off, silently laughing as the transgenic's hold on his forearm tightened. Not that it was painful, or if it was, that he could feel it. 

"I'd rather be a cat then a snake." Max bit back, looking around, committing everything to memory. Coming to a three way turn, she slowed down and looked around; using what little light there was from the moon to see what was at the end of each branch off.

White watched as she looked both ways, bending lower to the ground and shadows.

'So this is how she always gets away.' he thought. 'Manticore taught them to blend in.'

Taking the chance he had, watching as the arm that held his dropped to her side as she slowly stood again, he came up behind her and pulled her to him, holding her waist. He nearly laughed when he felt her freeze, but instead leaned in and brought his mouth to her right ear.

"I would much rather be a killer then a stray." He said, his breath tickling her cheek before he moved away.

Before White was a good two feet away from her, he found himself on his back, against the cold cement and the light layer of grey slush. Max sat on his stomach, his wrists pinned under her knees as she straddled his waist. Slowly, she leaned down towards him until her mouth was by his ear.

"I would much rather be quick and agile then slow and old." She whispered before rubbing her cheek against his own and getting up off of him.

"I am _not_ old." White said, getting up quickly and brushing the dirt and trampled snow from his leather jacket and jeans.

"Then you admit to being slow." Max supplied smartly, sounding bored and uninterested.

"I am not old, and I am not slow, you smart mouthed freak."

"You know what," Max said stepping back over to the taller man. "You're _slowing_ down my process for getting through this city, okay? We haven't even been to half of the places I want to go to before Wednesday."

"I'll give you my key and you can finish in _daylight_." White said dryly, watching as her dark eyes narrowed.

"I can't do it tomorrow." she said, and White couldn't help but think that it pained her to say that. "Becky said she would love to take the day off to take me shopping," she said scowling. "Like there's something wrong with my clothes!"

"Well- " White began to say, but was silenced when a surprisingly hard snow ball collided with the middle of his forehead.

* * *

"So Aunt Becky, you're taking Max shopping tomorrow, right?" Ray asked drying a plate and putting it back in its proper shelf. 

"Yes, I am. I think she'll appreciate it." Becky said, smiling as she handed her nephew a freshly cleaned glass for him to dry and put away.

"Well then, do you think you could help her pick some things from this list?" he asked, slapping on a big innocent smile as his aunt read over the paper that just _happened_ to be in his back pocket at the time.

"You sure she'll need this? It is winter Ray…" she said, pointing to an item on the list.

"I'm sure!" Ray said, nodding enthusiasticly. "In fact, of all the things, make sure she gets at least one, okay?" he asked.

Becky looked down doubtfully at the young boy, wondering why of all things that would be on his list. It was winter after all. But when she looked down at that innocent face, and his big blue eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say no.

* * *

"Alright, if you were hiding a psychopath's son, where would _you_ live?" 

"That's a good question Alec. Perhaps you should think harder."

"Well, there's Abbotsford and Walnut Grove, but they're high society, so everyone would know you. There's Surrey and Cloverdale, but they're more like run down projects."

"Everyone would know you there." Logan said, pulling the car over. "Where else?"

"There's Vancouver and Coquitlam, but they're over the Port Mann, which is heavy traffic and rush hour pretty much every time of the day. Then there are hills, skyscrapers, and hobos…"

"A richer Seattle?" Logan asked. Alec moved the map away from him, nodding. "Anywhere else?"

"Langley and Brookswood." Alec confirmed, pointing to their location between Abbotsford and Cloverdale on the map.

"What's it like there?"

"Quiet, calm, pretty average." Alec said off handedly.

"In other words, the perfect place to hide an eight year old without really hiding him?"

Alec blinked several times, completely stunned that he had missed that. "Yeah…" he confirmed, blinking several more times.

Logan grabbed the map from the shocked X5 and looked it over. They weren't that far from where they could exit off the freeway onto the road that went straight through Langley.

Before he could finish looking over what streets intersected with 200th street and where they led off to, Alec snatched the map away and crumpled it in his hands.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Alec asked. "Get driving! We have to get to her before she does something stupid!"

* * *

"Hello brother." A deep voice said, the owner of the voice pulling his car from the curb where he had sat with it turned off for a good five minutes. 

"Hello brother." Another voice said, though this one came from a cell phone set on speaker.

"I have found 452's friends, the journalist and 494. I will follow them to the location of 452 and Brother White."

"Good, I shall tell the superiors or your success." The voice said, sounding proud. "Until then, keep following them, but remember to not let yourself be known. When you find their location, contact me and the superiors shall send out a team to bring them back."

"Of course brother."

"Fen'es'tol."

The driver smiled cruelly, following the car through the light fog.

"Fen'es'tol."

* * *

"Open the door White." 

"I'm trying 452, but my key isn't working."

"It's not working?" Max asked, seriously on the verge of laughter. With an ego his size, and though she would never admit it out loud, _some_ skills to back up the gigantic ego, you would think he would be able to open the door.

"No 452, I'm just unlocking and relocking the door repeatedly for no other reason then to stay outside all night." White replied sarcastically, tossing her the piece of light sliver metal that was meant to give them access to the house.

"Well, number one," Max said, twirling the key around her fingers. "The name is Max. It's not a hard mane to remember, nor is it hard to pronounce. It's a very simple name, now learn to use it."

"Shut up and open the door."

"Number two," Max continued, completely ignoring White's sentence. "You will learn to respect the fact that I have the right to live and breathe just as much as you do."

"Will you open the door now?"

Once again, Max ignored him. "I'm here to help you. You understand that?"

"Are you done yet 452?"

"It's Max."

"You are not normal." White said, stretching out the words and saying them slowly. "Your creators didn't give you a name, they gave you a number."

"My name is Max." she said forcefully, more then ready to beat the simple sentence into his head, and more then willing.

"You don't have a name. People have names. Test tube bred soldiers don't."

"I have a name!"

"You have a number!"

"My name is Max!"

"Your so called 'name' is 452!"

Just as she was about to say something to defend herself, something in her mind clicked. She was here to help him, and he refused to do something as simple as calling her by her name. She was freaking out over something so small, and she had absolutely no idea way. He was the enemy, why would he call her by her name?

Ames watched thoroughly confused as 452 shut her mouth and turned around, kneeling before the door knob. He watched as she pulled something from the inside of her jacket, using it to quickly unlock the door. Before he could blink, she was gone and his key sat on the front mat, just inside the door.

* * *

Max paced the roof, a scowl on her face, and she tried to make some sense out of what had just happened less than ten minutes ago. 

She was angry, offended, frustrated and pissed off. Why? Because her arch nemesis of the year wouldn't acknowledge the fact that she was not just a number.

'He's Ames White.' she reasoned, still pacing along the roof silently. 'He hates me, and I hate him. So why did I flip out? If there was a book dictating all that was to happen during those times we're in the same room and not fighting, it would say that he is to call me 452, and I am to call him White. It's that simple.'

'Then why does it not seem that simple?' an uncertain voice asked from tits place within the back of her mind.

Max sat down on the tiled rook, laying her arms on her brought up knees, her head moving to rest of her arms.

'I'm stressed.' She thought, nodding to herself. 'That's it, I'm stressing myself, and he's not helping.'

'We don't get stressed!' a sharp voice said, one that was buried far deeper then the first. 'We pull through everything without error! Without stress!'

'I know.' Max thought, wrapping her arms around her legs tightly. 'I know.'

* * *

Ray sat down on his bed, lying down slowly so that the frame wouldn't creak. He had heard and watched the whole thing from the other side of the door. 

At first he was going to open the door for them, realizing Becky must have given his father a key for one of the older locks, but then they started fighting. He couldn't help but listen in, and instantly felt his stomach clench when Max didn't say anything back. He'd been around her long enough to know that she never gave up and it was never anything good when she gave in by begin absolutely silent.

He'd watched his father pace for a few minutes in their room before going to bed, and Ray took the idea as a good one and silently moved to his own room to follow his fathers' example.

That was before he heard it.

It wasn't a loud noise, but it was a noise non-the-less, a noise that sounded like it was coming from the roof.

That was where he found her, pacing through the snow atop the roof like some kind of wild cat being teased with meat on a stick on the other side of a chain link fence.

He watched silently as she sat down in the snow and looked off into space.

Now that he though about it, he couldn't help but admit that she looked extremely lost, sitting there alone in the cold and the darkness of the night.

'She'll never look like that again.' Ray thought, staring at the green glowing starts he had put onto his ceiling in the formation of the star consolations. Like the ones back in Max's room in Seattle that he had put up for her before he left…

"I'll make sure she never looks like that again."

* * *

"Brother." 

"Brother."

"The two are now staying in a motel in down town Langley. They believe she is within the vicinity of the city."

"Good job. Stay close to them. Help will be there soon.

"Thank you."

"Fen'es'tol."

"Fen'es'tol."

* * *

**End Chapter Eight**

* * *

**Once again, in the timeline, that would be Monday night and early Tuesday morning.**

Kelzaa –

Thank you, I hope you thought this chapter was good too. And as for Ray playing cupid, well, you'll have to wait and find out later. Thanks for the review!

Jen Drake –

Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter too.

angelofdarkness78 –

Thank you! I'm sorry this chapter a somewhat shorter then the others… But I thought that I'd post something up before I go to school next week. And I seriously hope no do-gooders go come a report me! Then I'll have to start ALL over. That would kill me. So lets pray I have some kind of luck on my side! -lol- Thanks for the review!

Aurora –

Thank you for your advice. And I'm happy you like Kitz, makes me think he's coming off as a real cat… I don't know how to write about kittens because I have dogs that like to _eat_ cats. And I put the walking at nighttime… That way the people after them don't see them… See, I have the ability to plan things ahead in this story. ANYWAYS – Thank you for the review! I hope you liked this chapter as well.

**Right, really short chapter, I know… And I feel kind of bad for not making it longer, but it's served it purpose. Now you know what's happening, and I believe I left a cliff hanger or something to tie you over _somewhere_ in there… Anyways, Reviews are beautiful things!**

_-Kasumi_


	9. Chapter Nine

**Hello! Long time no see. Here is Chapter Nine, Tuesday Morning, and Tuesday Afternoon…**

**During the school year, I'm not sure about how many times I'll be able to update. My goal is to post a chapter every month. How long they'll be, I don't know. This one 3,200 words, but I can guarantee that all will be this long. So, some will be long, some will be short, but at least it's a chapter a month, unlike last year.**

**Thank you for your future patience. **

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

* * *

Ames White stood there, steel faced, and did nothing. He watched, steel faced, as 494 stepped over the broken body of his own son, and did nothing. He watched, steel faced, as 494 reached into his jacket and pulled out his own gun. And once again, he watched, steel faced, as 494 aimed at his head, smirked, and pulled back the trigger. 

Then everything went dark.

He didn't know if he had closed his eyes at his last moment of life, or if 494 had pulled that trigger long before he thought he did and he didn't see the 9mm bullet coming at him, but he soon found out.

Wherever he was, it instantly lit up, like someone had flipped a switch. And before him stood, broken, bloody, slouched, and nearly half dead, 452.

He didn't know if it was a dream, a vision, or something that was really happening, but he knew that something did this to her. One of those half cooked freaks maybe? Perhaps that giant dog man she kept under wraps. No, something more inhuman then that wouldn't even be able to do that to her. Not her.

It was odd, watching as she looked up at him, her eyes clouded over with something. Perhaps it was pain? Sorrow? Regret? He was sure of one thing, it was something deep, and something far more complicated then he cared to delve into. But as she slowly began to limp towards him, something in him seemed to chip. Maybe the ice around his heart that only Ray could melt, or maybe the pure reinforced iron around his mind, but he couldn't help his heart from clenching, seeing such a strong being reduced to what was before him.

He watched silently as with each step, her right leg seemed to give way more and more, inch by inch. When it finally gave up in the act of supporting her weight, what compelled him to do so, he didn't know, but he did what he did.

He caught her.

Slowly, he brought her down, watching as her head fell to his shoulder. He could feel how shallow her breaths were, and no matter how much he denied it, it scared him.

She was dieing, slowly at that, and he couldn't do anything. Not even put her out of her misery. He couldn't bring himself to think about it.

"I'm sorry..." she choked out, a weak cough coming directly after speaking. Why she was apologizing, he didn't know, but he wanted to.

"Why?" he asked bluntly, positioning her so she was sitting against him and off the obviously shattered leg.

"Because," she said, bringing her hand up to her two lower left ribs as she took a breath in. "I-I couldn't save him."

He listened to her closely, taking in each word and each struggled breath while calculating all of her injuries.

Her leg was literally shattered. How she was able to stand on it, let alone walk the few steps she had, was amazing. The other ankle looked severely sprained, with a sizeable gash running up the side of each of her thighs. There were small cuts and scratches across her abdomen and up along her arms, though the only fatal ones were at her forearms and her chest. Along with that, her back and face were bruised and bloodied, most likely from the fight she was in.

"Save whom?" he asked softly, watching as runes appeared all over the broken and dirty skin, most completely unreadable by him.

"R-" she took in a deep breath, he back straightening as she coughed, a large amount of blood spilling over her lips before she sat back against him again, breathing even shallower then before. "Ray."

Everything seemed to freeze when she said his sons' name. She tried to save him? She was dieing because she tried to save his son? She was dieing because one of her own turned on her? 494 did this to her?

It was completely unbelievable. Of all of the transgenic trash she was hiding, 494 would do this to her? He practically loved her, and now he was the reason she was dieing.

"I forgive you." she said, sighing out a breath. He didn't understand her. Forgive him? For what? Not succeeding in being the one to kill her, or for trying all those times?

"For what?" Ames asked, some of his steeled face mask dropping as she turned to face him, her head still on his shoulder.

She slowly smiled up at him, and even though it seemed to pain her, she kept smiling. And as she did, a rune he did understand slowly appeared on her collar bone.

'And so the Angel of Darkness falls, killed by her own beloved Corrupted One...'

"I forgive you," she said, coughing again, though this time no blood came to her lips, for her last words would be the last thing she ever said. "For killing me."

* * *

White's eyes shot right open, to once again, darkness. He quickly sat up, relived for the fact that he could feel the thick sheets covering him, the mattress beneath him, and the fabric that were his pajama pants. 

He hadn't been able to feel anything in his dream.

He hadn't dreamt of anything in a good twenty six years.

But the scariest fact was the fact that he had killed 452. He had beaten her that badly, and she still came back. She _forgave_ him.

The concept of it was terrifying to him.

Lying back down onto his pillow slowly, he turned to his right. There was a small amount of light coming through the window above the bed's head board, and with that, he could see her.

She had her back to him, with her dark hair spread out over the pillow her right arm was under. The blanket rested on her hips, exposing the tight tank top she wore, and where it rode up, the smooth skin that was distinctly hers and the faint letters of a new rune appearing.

Letting his eyes travel up her back, he focused on the back of her neck. Under her slightly tangled hair, he could see a good portion of the tell tale barcode she had been branded with since birth. It was odd, lying there in the same bed with her, staring at her barcode. Her identification, her designation, her name.

'But her name is Max.' he thought sarcastically, rolling over to lye on his back. 'It ridiculous, the bunch of them running around like the freaks they are, saying they have names.'

_You're such an ass, you know that?'_ a voice said in the back of his mind, which he gladly ignored, and went back to sleep.

* * *

Max woke up slowly, early morning light lighting up half of the room she had been sleeping in for the previous three hours. 

She had come down form the roof when her teeth had started to chatter from the cold as she thought. After, she had locked everything and gotten into the bed, turning her back to the sleeping man on the other side. She had fallen asleep so fast; she barley saw that it was one thirty in the morning when she had finally gone inside.

Slowly getting up from the bed, she let her back arch, a few disks popping back into a comfortable place.

"I thought you didn't need to sleep."

Max spun around, completely shocked and in a fighting stance. She had no clue he was awake before her, and the fact that he was now laughing at her didn't help her all ready irritated state of mind towards him.

"What's wrong 452? Don't tell me I scared you." he taunted, his eyes never even opening as he laid there on his back with his hands propping his head up, and what seemed like a trademark smirk planted on his face.

"Having to remember the fact that we're in the same room and you're not dead yet is scary enough." she shot back, leaning back on one leg while she crossed her arms. "How would you know if I was asleep or not anyways White? Watching me in my sleep now?"

White snorted, cracking an eye open to look at her in the morning light. "You know you talk in your sleep?" he asked. "Who the hell are Ben and Tinga anyways?"

"None of your business." Max snapped. 'I do _not_ talk in my sleep!'

"Really...?" White drawled, this time opening both eyes and facing her, sitting up against his propped up pillow. "Are you hiding something _illegal_ perhaps 452? You did a lot of mumbling..."

"Shut up." she said pointedly, glaring at the male before her. 'He's lying!'

"Are you positive?" he asked, tilting his head to the side while making an attempt to look seriously interested, which he was. She did mumble in her sleep, she even twitched a bit, and those were the only names he could understand. Of course, since he knew that, it meant that she was right, and he did watch her sleep... But only for the last thirty minutes. Then she woke up.

"White..." she growled, her head lowering in a very menacing way. Truthfully, Ames thought that if he pushed her anymore, she would pounce him and beat the shit out of him...

He wasn't wrong either.

"Fine." he said, holding both hands up in mock surrender.

It seemed to calm her, the small movement. She straightened herself and made for the door, stretching her legs and arms along the way. By the time her hand was on the door knob, like in his dream, Ames seemed to have lost complete control of his body, and what came out of his mouth nearly gave him a heart attack.

"I'm sorry."

Max felt herself freeze, trying to understand if that was her imagination, or if it was simply the fact that she had literally frozen her brain while sitting out in the cold without even her jacket. Ames White would never say those words. It just wasn't... possible.

"What was that?" she asked uncertainly, slowly turning around to face him.

"I believe you heard me." he said through his teeth, believing that if we were to open his mouth again, something else he seriously should _not_ say would come out of his mouth.

Within seconds she was sitting beside him on the bed, the back of her hand resting gently on his forehead. After a few seconds she moved it to his cheek, then just under his chin.

"You don't seem to have a fever..." Max muttered.

She watched, highly amused, as White's right eye seemed to twitch a few times.

"Leave." he said, slowly, and it sounded very strained. His eye began to twitch even more when she didn't move.

Laughing lightly, Max got off the bed and walked to the door, silently shutting it behind her.

* * *

"Mhmmm." Max mumbled, listening as Becky ranted on about the beautiful different colors she could wear. 

"And you know what; you would look beautiful in a deep blue..." Becky said, grabbing hold of Max's wrist to drag her into another store.

They had already gotten nearly everything on Ray's list, well, except for the one suspicious item, but they could get to that one later.

'Why would that be on his list, of all things? It's winter!' Becky thought as she grabbed a nice pink sweater for herself, grabbing Max a same one but in a rich violet color. 'We'll be passing one of those stores soon... I'll have to talk her into it somehow...'

"Those are nice colors." Max said politely, walking on to look through some jeans just a little bit away.

Becky smiled, handing her the sweater and picking out a pair of dark colored jeans for the both of them. They tried them on, and after much ranting and persuading from Becky, they made the purchase and walked out of the store, a total of five bags for each other them after an hour of shopping.

As they turned a corner, Becky saw the store she was dreading to walk by. How would she get Max in there? Let alone get her to try something on... It was a difficult task.

"So… umm... What would you like to get next?" Becky asked, slightly moving to the left to slowly turn Max towards the up coming store.

Max looked down and into her various bags. "I don't know." she said, shrugging lightly as Becky again took a step towards the left as they walked side by side, which only confused Max. Was she tripping or something? Could this woman not walk in a straight line? Was she drunk at one in the afternoon?

"Oh!" Becky said, stopping in front of the store with pink lights illuminating the manikins in the window. "We must go into this store!" she said cheerfully while Max gave her a skeptical look.

"You're not thinking of getting anything are you?"

"Oh, come on Maxie! It'll be so much fun!" Becky said joyfully, grabbing Max's hand and dragging her into the store.

'Maxie? Where did that come from?' she thought letting herself be dragged into the bright store.

* * *

Ames sat back on the couch down stairs in the den, a phone book in his lap. Flipping through the thick paper back, making sure he didn't recognize any names. Of course, he knew new aliases would be used, but he needed something to do. He now completely understood why 452 didn't want to be left in the damn house. It was extremely boring. There was absolutely nothing to do. 

So, he sat down, got comfy, and grabbed the phone book, and started looking for any name that he knew, which he knew we wasn't going to find.

Talk about pointless.

When he heard the front door unlock with a click, and shut with a loud resounding smack, he knew who was home.

Getting up from his seat, he put the book back and shut off the light, heading to the front door.

* * *

Max dropped the bags around her, glaring at each and everyone of them. 

'Damn shopping experience from hell.'

"I guess you didn't have fun..." a voice drawled from somewhere in front of her, a voice that belonged to a man that she didn't care to deal with in her bad mood.

"What time is it?" she snapped, grabbing the bags in her hands again. Hers in one, Becky's in the other.

"Two o'clock, Ray gets out in half an hour." Ames said, following the younger woman up the stairs. He watched silently as she deposited what must have been Becky's bags into her room, and then turned to their room, stuffing her own bags into their closet. "What did you get?" he asked slyly, noting how it made her left hand twitch slightly.

"Nothing that you need to stick your big nose into." she said dryly, grabbing her leather jacket and throwing his over her shoulder in his general direction. "Let's go."

* * *

They had gotten through the thickening snow and through the annoyingly slick intersections quickly, getting to Ray's school with ten minutes to spare. Max looked around, noticing that everything was the same, though the snow seemed to be deeper, and Ames did the same, their observations very much the same. 

Walking through the front playground, Ames took lead, making sure to crush the frozen chunks of gravel under his feet as both he and Max approached the door to Ray's class. Though, just as they were passing a set of swings, the sounds of her footsteps didn't seem to reach his ears. Looking over his shoulder, he found that she wasn't even behind him anymore.

Instead, she was slowly making her way over to a young boy who had his back turned to them. He looked a little younger then Ray, and was certainly smaller, wearing a thick jacket and heavy looking boots, a trumpet clutched in a gloved hand. Though, what was odd was the fact that the boy was nearly completely bald, and didn't even seem to have a hat in the cold weather. Why she was sneaking up on the boy was beyond him, so he decided to watch and listen in, surprised the boy didn't notice 452 behind him.

He watched, amazed, as she crouched down behind him, pulling off her own black and dark blue toque, and pulling it onto his head, holding back laughter when the boy spun around, obviously shocked.

He was even more shocked when the boy latched onto her neck.

* * *

"Ugh... I hate snow." 

"You don't mind rain."

"Rain doesn't pile up like that."

Logan looked over to his car, nodding. The car was absolutely covered with at least an inch of snow, and he was surprised it was even recognizable.

"Now, we have to get all of that off, or it could ruin something." Alec said, pulling on his black gloves and sighing. "Why couldn't you get a small, normal car?"

"Because I don't like small, normal cars." Logan said, stepping out into the falling onslaught of flakes and whipping chunks from his cars hood and windshield.

"Now, if you had just gotten a car like that..." Alec trailed off, looking over to the car behind Logan. It was a red Mustang, something just a little before the pulse, that looked like it was right off the line.

"You know how fast that would be stolen in Seattle?" Logan said, and when Alec did nothing but ogle at the car, he threw a chuck of snow at him. "You going to help me or not? It's a car, leave it be."

Alec scowled at him, reaching out and whipping off half of the snow on the top of the car. "It's a nice car, and stop reprimanding me, I can get that from Max later."

"Just hurry up, will you?" he heard Logan say, though Alec kept looking at the car. It was a nice car, a very nice car, and it strangely looked familiar. He hadn't seen it before... Had he?

"Alec," Logan said, looking over the roof of the car at the male X5. "Perhaps if you get in the car, we can get moving."

Blinking a few times, Alec nodded slowly, slightly suspicious of the car, though he couldn't exactly remember why. People had Mustangs. People had red Mustangs. People with cars lived in Seattle.

Nodding his head, he got into the car, pulling off his gloves to rub his hands together. 'But that one...' he thought as they drove off, stopping at the intersection to make a left hand turn. 'That ones different... Somehow...'

As they turned and drove out of sight, a shadowed figure stepped out of near by alley way, sighing quietly as he neared the red Mustang. He was safe, for now. Even if 494 had subconsciously seen his car as he tailed them last night, he wasn't smart enough to put them together.

But the real question was, was 452 smarter?

* * *

**End Chapter Nine**

* * *

**Tuesday Morning and Tuesday Afternoon. Action should be coming soon.**

Reviews:

angelofdarkness78:

Wow, you are so close to guessing what was on the list! So, so close! Thank you for the review, and feel free to blame Logan more then Alec anytime during the story, I don't like him that much either. Thank you for the review!

Aurora:

Awww, thank you. :D White won't find out what she bought for a little bit, but I'm sure he'll like it… And action with the Conclave is coming soon! Heh, I'm writing the story and I can't wait. Thanks for the review!

SitaTheLastVampire:

Thank you, thank you. Be mad at them at any time, any time. BTW… Nice new name. And I think I'll take your hope and change it into a reality… Or, at least, try really, really, really hard. Thank you for the reviews!

**Once again, thank you to you all, because you all rock! I hope you like this chapter… I think it's my longest yet. Be proud! And, virtual cookies and candies to anyone who can figure out who the kid at the school is, and what Ray had on his list!**

**Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving,**

_-Kasumi_


	10. Chapter Ten

**Important message after long awaited chapter. Enjoy.**

**If you recognize it, I don't own it.**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

**

* * *

**

_Tuesday Afternoon and Tuesday Evening_

* * *

"Max!" the young boy yelled, eyes wide as he threw himself into her, hugging her tightly. He hadn't seen her in some time, and he was happy to know that his savoir was still alive and kicking. Since she had originally saved him and the others, giving them names and a place to go, he wished he would see her again. 

"Hey Bugler, how are you? I didn't know you guys moved here." Max said, pulling the toque tighter over his ears. "You're all still together, right?"

"Of course ma'- Max!" Bugler said, nodding quickly as he caught himself. "Fixit fixes - well, anything. Ralph and Zero work at a car repair shop, and Bullett takes care of the house." when he said that, Max got a worried expression on her face. The wound wasn't that bad, was it? But Bugler was quick to explain.

"No, no, no, no, he's okay; he's just the only one that can cook without nearly burning the house down."

At that, Max couldn't help but laugh as the end of day bell rang.

* * *

"Hey Logan - you didn't notice anything strange about that Mustang back at the hotel, did you?" Alec asked as they sat at a small resturaunt, where they had stopped for something to eat. They had been out for most of the day, but neither of them had seen any sign of Max or White. 

"No, why?" Logan said, grabbing a few fries from the X5's plate. If he wasn't going to eat them - there was no reason they should go cold.

"Because the same car is sitting outside in the parking lot." Alec said, eyes still watching the sports car from where he sat - in the middle of the room.

"So? It's a nice resturaunt; lots of people are here." Logan said, looking around. The resturaunt was in fact quite full, and the poor elderly couple to their left must have thought that Alec was staring at them intently.

"Well then Mr. Eyes Only, answer me this." Alec said, turning his dark head towards the blond man. "Why has the driver been in his car for the last twenty minutes?"

* * *

"So where's your dad?" Ray asked his red headed friend, holding onto her arm as they tried to make it across the playground. The rock underneath their feet was very uneven, and they had already slipped and fell four times. 

"I don't know." Sarah said, standing on her toes to look over all of the taller kids in front of them.

"Hey!" Ray said, moving quickly through people while still holding onto his friends arm. "Dad! Dad!"

Ames tore his gaze from the X5 to where his sons voice was coming from, picking him up when he finally made it over through the labyrinth of other school children. Giving him a hug and letting him back down, he noticed the young girl smiling at them.

"Hi!" she said brightly, waving up at him. "I'm Sarah McBrighen! You're Ray's dad, right? He talks a lot about you. You have a lot in common with my dad! You two should meet, you'd be great friends!"

Ames was amazed. She had just elegantly said six sentences in one breath - in a total of ten seconds; and his son just stood there smiling and nodding his head. This eight year old girl was insane - and she was still going!

"I think my daddy is taller then you - but that's okay, he's taller then a lot of people. My mommy says I'll be tall too. She's really nice and really smart too! She always helps me with my homework. Daddy tries to help too, but he doesn't know how to do long division. He does it all in is head, so I guess that makes him smart too, but -"

"Sarah! There you are." another voice said, and Ames was happy the man, hopefully her father, was there to make her stop talking. She could've gone on for another hour.

"I was waiting for you two out by the truck." the man said, then turned to Ames. "Sorry, I'm Nick McBrighen, you must be Ray's father."

"Ames White." he said, shaking Nick's offered hand. The red head was smiling at him, and then looked over his shoulder.

"So you're here with your fiancée today?" he asked, nodding his head over to Max who was still with the odd boy.

Biting his tongue to make sure no snarky remark or denying sneer came out at the question, he only nodded his head, seeing the transgenic stand up again, hugging two women who were not there before and watching them leave before she came back towards them. There was a soft smile on her lips but a suspicious glint in her eyes when she nodded to the taller man, ruffling Ray's head when she stopped beside him.

"I see you two have met already." she said, smiling at Sarah and lightly tugging on one of her pigtails, making the girl giggle. For some unknown reason to him, Ames hated that sound.

"Yes, but unfortunately Sarah and I have to get going. My breaks almost up and I have to get back to work." Nick said, taking his little girls hand in his. "It was a pleasure to meet you Ames." he said, shaking his hand one more time. With a polite nod and good bye to Max and Ray, he and Sarah left, the kid talking animatedly to her father.

Max tilted her head inquiringly. "Wasn't she quiet and a little shy yesterday?"

"The teacher gave us candy today. Substitutes aren't that smart." Ray said, innocently popping a sour gummy into his mouth. "Sarah doesn't usually get candy, so she gets _big_ sugar highs." he said as he grabbed their hands, leading them to the side walk.

"I'm not surprised." Ames said dryly, sighing as he shook his head. The girl must've been on something, because nothing in the universe was meant to talk that fast.

Max sent a weak glare at him. "She's cute."

"Just was cute as the kid you were talking to."

"Oh," said Ray, cutting in quickly. "You mean Bugler? I didn't know you knew him." at Max's nod, he continued. "I like his older siblings, their nice. Especially Bullett, he's a great cook! Ralph is funny, and Zero's working on a go cart! It's really cool looking. Fixit is nice too; she knows how to make the coolest snow mans! One time, she even made one that looked like a dinosaur!" Ray laughed suddenly, remembering the last time he had gone over to their home. "Then, Zero and Ralph made a snow fort, and we all had a big snowball fight! Bullett even got a good shot right at the back of Fixit's head." sobering quickly, he smiled and said the last part of his speech quite seriously. "But of course, Bugler and I beat them all."

"Sure you did, Ray." Max said lightly, smiling in a teasing way when he looked up at her, vexed. Ames only smirked to himself, lightly rubbing his sons head. Maybe the rest of this week wouldn't be a completely horrible disaster.

* * *

"Is he still trailing us?" Logan asked, watching the road. They had been driving for the last hour aimlessly, trying to figure out what the deal was with their unwanted shadow. 

"Five cars back." Alec confirmed, indiscreetly looking back in the rear view. "It must be a familiar, thinking we know where Max and White are."

"So they're expecting us to lead them to Ray." Logan said, stopping in a crowded parking lot.

"Well considering they just parked and haven't gotten out of their car yet, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what they're thinking." Alec said, getting out of the car. Logan jumped out as well, following the annoyed man into the department store.

"What are we doing?" Logan asked quietly, matching Alec's quick pace.

"We're dragging him out." was the reply as they stepped into the electronics department, a man in a black coat with shifty eyes slowly following them in from a distance.

They walked to the back, where the smaller, ill-favored TVs sat forgotten. Turning their backs and watching the black and white version of _Finding Nemo_, they listened intently for the sound of footsteps behind them. It took their stalker a minute, but it wasn't much of a wait before Alec could hear him coming up, hiding behind a stack of CD's.

"I don't think she's gonna show." Alec said quietly, trying to get the man to come closer. Logan got the hint.

"She said be here, we're here."

Alec shook his head. "Max is never late." he sighed. "You don't think White is giving her problems to keep her from giving us Ray, do you?"

"No, he can't be on to her plans already." Logan said, shaking his head. "No familiar is that smart."

As though he took that as an insult, the unqualified shadow stepped forward, just in reach of Alec's fist as he swung around and hit him in jaw. The familiar stumbled back two steps, but was otherwise unaffected.

Getting his fists up, Alec was more then ready to defend himself when he saw Logan scurry away to the left.

The familiar came at him fast, and in a split second was back in his original position, the only evidence of him being close was the dull throb coming from where his fist made contact with Alec's forearm.

"This is ridiculous, you know." Alec said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Fighting in a department store, in front a kid's movie. I mean, really."

The familiar narrowed his eyes, jumping forward and throwing several punches at Alec's head. Four were blocked by his arms, while one hit and he dodged two. Slinking past him towards the right, Alec jumped on the balls of his feet a few times.

"Is that all you got? I know cats that hit harder then you." he taunted, leaning in to whisper the last bit. "Literally."

This time, Alec jumped forward; hitting him with a well aimed back kick to the abdomen, and a right hook to the jaw. But once again, the familiar looked unfazed as he stood straight and cracked his neck, patiently waiting for the next attack. But, to his shock, Alec only stood up and dropped his fists. With an idiotic smirk on his face, he waved to the man, and the familiar hit the floor with a dull thud.

"What is that?" Alec asked, noting the long metal object Logan held in his hand. It was slightly dented from where it had hit the back of the Familiars head, but since the man hadn't sprung up from the floor yet, he supposed he'd be amazed if it wasn't dented.

"Solid metal baseball bat, from the sports section." he said, dropping it down beside the unconscious man. "They make them like a rock."

* * *

"Hello Brother." the speaker phone said, the connection clear and slightly echoing through the large office like room. 

"Hello Brother." the man who sat in the room said, sitting back in a tall leather chair. "452 and Brother White are in the city, the boy, Ray, great friends with Sarah. What are my orders?"

There was a pause before the voice answered.

"Keep a close eye on them. We don't know what their next move is, and the superiors want a reason to attack. If they end up bringing him back to Seattle, we can deal with them there."

"I understand." the man in the office said, nodding his head although he knew the man on the other side of the line would not see the gesture. "I shall invite them to my home for the end of the week, if you wish for me to do something; you know where they will be."

"I shall tell this to the superiors right away, we will stay in touch. Fen'es'tol."

"Fen'es'tol."

* * *

"What did you do exactly?" Logan asked as Alec hopped back into the car, slipping a soft leather case back inside his jacket. 

"Nothing really." Alec said smartly. "Just - _personalized_ - his car, since you wouldn't let me steal it." the last part was said as though he were a sulking child, which Logan thought he greatly resembled at the moment.

Logan looked at him oddly, but looked away when the familiar walked over to his car. He looked unsteady, like he might fall over at any moment, but that was quickly gone. He unlocked the door, and got in the car.

Much to his confusion, and anger, when he started up the car, the alarm came on. It only lasted a few seconds, but that wasn't the only problem. At random, the windshield wipers came on, and then the radio started blasting, and then the alarm made a second appearance! It was ridiculous.

Putting the car in drive and punching the gas, his head nearly hit the steering wheel when his car went into reverse, hitting the large heavy duty pick up behind him.

Turning off the car, his anger increased when he saw the objectives car drive away, the laughing X5-494 clearly visible through the passenger side window.

* * *

"So, what do you think about this Nick McBrighen guy?" Ames asked offhandedly, lying down in their shared bed while she sat on the end, taking off her shoes. 

"You don't like him." she stated, not turning around and continuing with her other shoe.

"You do?" Ames asked, bewildered.

Max turned around slowly, looking at him for a second before answering. "I met him yesterday and I didn't hear him take one step on the frozen rocks. I heard everything else, everyone else, but he was a ghost." shaking her head slowly, she rubbed her eyes. "I don't trust ghosts."

"Then what do we do?" he asked, a sarcastic tone to his voice.

Lying back on the bed beside him, Max closed her eyes, trying to think. A little, quivering voice in her head said to leave the city now, but to stay away from Seattle. It said that Seattle was just as bad as this place right now, but another voice, a stronger commanding voice said that the mission wasn't done yet. The second voice said to stay in the city, and deal with whatever asshole that showed up. The first voice seemed to sigh tiredly before shrinking away.

"We stay." Max said, her voice sounding different even to herself. "There's nothing else we can do."

* * *

**End Chapter Ten**

**

* * *

**

Hello. I am terribly sorry for, well, not updating. I'm not happy with this chapter, but I thought that I should get it out anyways so you all don't assume I'm dead or abandoning the story -- Which I'm not!

**So, if anyone is still reading this - please do review so I know I'm writing this story for someone out there to enjoy.**

_-Kasumi_


End file.
